Nordic Welfare Society Research Articles

Evolving social risks in the Nordic welfare societies: A comparative discourse on extant literature and data

Evolving social risks in the Nordic welfare societies: A comparative discourse on extant literature and data

From “Management Divas” to “Crown Jewel”: Discursive representations of Finnish National Opera during the management crisis of 2007–2009

This paper examines the socially constructed representations of a national opera institution in a contemporary Nordic welfare society by asking what kinds of discursive understandings of the Finnish National Opera are construed in public debates. The material consists of print media articles from the period of 1 January 2007–30 June 2009, when the Finnish National Opera went through a management crisis that led to extensive organisational changes. Four discursive ideas are identified, paired into two orders of discourse: the business and art discourses, focussing on the production of opera, and the elitism and democracy discourses, focussing on the reception of opera. Discussing the discursive meanings from a wider cultural perspective, the study concludes that our understanding of opera is restricted by a form of discursive theatre, reflecting tensions between old aesthetic ideals and modern ideologies. The paper thus provides new insights into current debates on cultural policies in the Nordic context with a strong tradition of state-funded culture. Theme picture: The Opera House, home of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet in Helsinki. Photo by Heikki Tuuli.

Homicide of Children through Violence, Abuse or Neglect in a Small Nordic Welfare Society

Homicide of Children through Violence, Abuse or Neglect in a Small Nordic Welfare Society

Material politics: approaching welfare history through urban water in 20th-century Denmark

ABSTRACT This article proposes the concept of ‘material politics’ as an analytical category for the field of Nordic welfare history. We suggest that our understanding of welfare as a socio-cultural and historical phenomenon can be further enriched if we engage analytically with the multiple ways in which the Nordic welfare societies have been imagined, materialized and negotiated through various forms of material networks, architecture and devices. Thus, to elucidate the analytical potential of material politics for welfare history, we begin the article by surveying recent interdisciplinary research on the entanglements of materiality and power. Specifically, we point to three approaches to material politics that, we suggest, are particularly relevant for the field of welfare history. In the second part of the article, we explore the applicability of material politics by examining two empirical cases, both related to urban water and bathing, that exhibit different ways in which materiality have helped to problematize, mediate and signify different aspects of urban welfare politics in 20th-century Denmark. In doing so, we hope to spur further scholarly dialogue about the analytical categories through which we approach and interpret the social and cultural meaning of welfare in modern Nordic societies.

Smart Circular Cities: Governing the Relationality, Spatiality, and Digitality in the Promotion of Circular Economy in an Urban Region

This article discusses the governance of a smart-green transition in an urban region. The focus is on how the modes of public governance relate to relationality, spatiality, and digitality, which are of vital importance in determining the success of the transition in question. The empirical inquiry is based on observations of the case of the Tampere urban region in Finland, which exemplifies such governance efforts in the Nordic welfare society context. The discussion shows that the relationality in the given context is fragmentary, dominated by persuasive network governance and soft means of exerting pressure. Municipalities assume many roles in CE governance, which matches their urge to utilize different institutional logics from hierarchies to markets and networks. Rather than a genuine authority, municipalities emerge as facilitators and enablers. Spatiality is highlighted in the formation of designated areas that serve circularity and also provide brand benefits, as shown by the eco-industrial park in the city of Nokia. Digitalization is an underdeveloped area in the circular economy agenda vis-à-vis its assumed potential. Its relevance has been identified by institutional players in the urban-regional governance field, but its realization seems to require both nationally coordinated actions and local solutions that compensate for the lack of a critical mass of developers and users in the circular economy ecosystem. Lastly, regarding urban governance, the parallel utilization of different modes of governance forms a complex setting, in which increasingly sophisticated forms of hybrid governance are emerging. Most notably, in the case of the Tampere urban region, the promotion of a circular economy by intermediaries is supplemented by novel dynamic assemblages that utilize different institutional logics within loosely governed processes that aim at integrating a circular economy into business models and urban development.

Trust Shaping in Forced Migrants’ Institutional Encounters in the Finnish Welfare State

This article examines institutional encounters in the light of trust in the contemporary welfare state context of Finland from the perspectives of young forced migrants. Young persons with a forced migration background constitute a growing group in Nordic welfare societies, and institutional encounters are an essential part of their everyday life. Still, little is known about how trust is shaped and experienced in this context. Drawing on 12 interviews with young forced migrants, I examine how trust and distrust is shaped in the series of institutional encounters. In my analysis, I identify two dimensions of facework interactions affecting trust: the administrative and emotional dimension. Thus, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of how the dynamic, multifaceted, contextualized concept of trust is shaped in the series of institutional encounters migrants face as part of migration governance.

The Voice of Business in Denmark’s Neoliberal Turn

ABSTRACT Many historians have argued that the Nordic welfare societies underwent a major transformation in the later decades of the 20th century, and neoliberalism has been identified as a key driver of this transformation. This article contributes to this field of contemporary history as it addresses the rhetoric and role of organized business in Denmark’s neoliberal turn, focusing especially on the Confederation of Danish Industry. Using conceptual historical methodology, the article identifies a rhetoric of competitiveness in the communication of organized business and traces how this rhetoric changed from 1970s to 2010s. This leads to the identification of two discontinuities. First, the article shows how the 1980s saw a transformation in which the industrialists increasingly called for state engagement to further competitiveness in the private sector, especially in relation to research and innovation. Second, the article shows how the 2010s saw a transformation in which the rhetoric of competitiveness adopted ideas about sustainability. What emerges from this analysis is a rather pragmatic version of neoliberalism that was born out of business interests and which since the late 1980s was developed as an integrated part of a consensus in the Danish policy elite.

Back to Square One. Green Sacrifice Zones in Sápmi and Swedish Policy Responses to Energy Emergencies

In the wake of the enthusiasm for green energy, previously contested energy and mining projects can be framed as part of a green transition. When state authorities decide to forego the standard procedural protections and the processes and forums for deliberation and local influence, it contributes to constructing green sacrifice zones. This paper compares two Swedish energy policy processes. The first is occurred during World War II and the hydropower expansion of the 1940s and 1950s. The second takes place today when wind power is expanding to increase renewable energy production. In Sweden, policymaking seems to be back to square one in the green transition, leaving out both important knowledge of the past and contemporary voices of the ongoing and probable consequences. In certain issues, such as how the recognition of the Indigenous status of the Sámi actually affects the legislative process and how to address the Indigenous rights of the Sámi, policymaking is particularly slow to adapt. The green transition industry is already affecting the Sámi, as the construction of the Nordic welfare society has done during the last century, and still does. It deepens an ongoing colonial wave that started in the 1300s. By showing how the Swedish legislative process, historically as well as currently, has neglected to involve Sámi representatives, this study points to the importance and obligation of Swedish policymaking to engage Sámi representatives in an early phase to avoid further sacrifice zones in Sápmi.

Residing in communal senior housing: situating the ageing self within debates of the universal welfare state

Abstract Currently, Nordic welfare societies are at a crossroads. Ongoing demographic changes – such as ageing, accompanied by challenges in financing adequate services for all – have highlighted the need to consider the roles of citizens and the state in a novel way. Balancing rights and responsibilities has always been at the core of universalism, even though, traditionally, trust in the welfare state's ability to fulfil its basic function of providing necessary services for all has been strong. However, of late, subtle signs of change have become more visible, and in practice, older people's housing and care provisions have been marked by the state's withdrawal. By employing narrative analysis, this study explores, through the experiences of residents in age-related intermediate housing, how older people make use of, negotiate and embed the arguments being made in societal debates on the rights and responsibilities of ageing citizens. The accounts showcase the ways in which these narrators are able to accommodate the sometimes contradictory elements in their narration, accept the demand for increased responsibility for their later-life arrangements and construct plausible portraits of themselves as morally responsible citizens. These subtle negotiations and the acceptance of personal responsibility indicate a change in their perceptions of and expectations from the citizens and the state. Whilst the findings comprise stories of good outcomes, they also question the legitimacy of the current welfare system's universalism and its ability to guide the way to achieve equally good outcomes for all in the future.

Changes in life expectancy and lifespan variability by income quartiles in four Nordic countries: a study based on nationwide register data

ObjectivesLevels, trends or changes in socioeconomic mortality differentials are typically described in terms of means, for example, life expectancies, but studies have suggested that there also are systematic social disparities...

Do Equal Qualifications Yield Equal Rewards for Immigrants in the Labour Market?

Using a correspondence field experiment, the study reported in this article has investigated if immigrant job applicants with equivalent qualifications are treated differently in the Finnish labour market. The study consists of 5000 job applications that were sent out to 1000 advertised positions by five applicants of Finnish, English, Iraqi, Russian and Somali backgrounds, who differed only in their names. The findings show that applicants of immigrant origin receive significantly fewer invitations for a job interview than the native candidate, even if they possess identical language proficiency, education and vocational diplomas. However, the extent of discrimination is not equally distributed among the immigrant groups. Rather, job applicants from non-European backgrounds seem to suffer a significantly greater labour-market penalty. The findings clearly suggest that, despite anti-discrimination legislation and measures aimed at promoting equal employment opportunities, discrimination continues to remain a serious barrier to immigrants’ labour-market integration in a Nordic welfare society.

“You lose control“: the experience of intimate partner violence and the consequences from the perspective of perpetrators and victims in a small Nordic country, Iceland

ABSTRACTThe aim of this study was to explore the experience of intimate partner violence among victims and perpetrators in Iceland which is a small Nordic welfare society, as well as the context that it takes place in. A qualitative method was used, interviews were carried out with six perpetrators and six victims, who had taken part in a treatment programme for batterers and their spouses. The interviews were transcribed and analysed. The main results were that the violence had great consequences for all involved. The victims mentioned consequences such as anxiety, depression and arthritis. The perpetrators thought that the violence had a negative impact on the atmosphere in their home and that it had had detrimental effects on the victims, reduced communication and even effected relationships with people outside the immediate family. Furthermore, that the violence had detrimental influences on their children’s wellbeing as well as on their physical and emotional health. Even though Iceland is a small Nordic welfare society and often considered advanced regarding gender equality, there are examples of serious physical violence incidents there. Patriarchal views as well as other risk factors might explain why violence against women remains in welfare societies like Iceland.

Questioning the rhetoric of a \u2018willing population\u2019 in Finnish biobanking

According to surveys and opinion polls, citizens in Nordic welfare societies have positive, supportive attitudes towards medical research and biobanking. In Finland, it was expected that this would result in the active biobank participation of patients and citizens. Indeed, public support has been rhetorically utilised as a unique societal factor and advantage in the promotion of Finnish biobanks, underlining the potential Finland offers for the international biomedical enterprise. In this paper, we critically analyse the use of notions such as ‘willing population’ and ‘engaged people’ in the promotion and legitimation of biobanking. First, there is a seeming contradiction between positive attitudes and actual participation rates, as biobanks have faced unexpected challenges in participant recruitment during the first years of their operations. As a result, the concept of a willing population was redirected to problematise the necessity of informed consent. Second, we question whether it is even meaningful to assume the existence of an informed and engaged population with regard to biobanking. Therefore, we suggest that it is problematic to talk about a willing population at the same time as the relevance of the informed consent system is being questioned by biobank actors and policy makers. We analyse this tension in relation to existing data on Finnish people’s attitudes, pointing out that positive, supportive views do not directly transform into high participation rates; nor do they justify the claims of policy makers and biobank proponents that people are willing to participate, when in fact surveys report that people know very little about biobanks.

Occupational science in a Nordic environment

ABSTRACTAlthough there are significant differences among the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland and Sweden), their welfare models of society share many common characteristics as contexts for occupational science research. This paper presents the author’s perspective, based on a decade long interest in occupational science, of how everyday life, health and social concerns in the Nordic welfare societies are understood and mirrored in occupational science research themes and perspectives. A second aim is to provide examples of current directions of Nordic occupational science. Concepts such as justice, equality of life quality, access to public services have been, and continue to be, essential values in the Nordic countries. For this reason, well-being, access to meaningful and healthy occupational engagement, and a holistic occupational perspective have particular interest to and have been investigated by several Nordic occupational scientists. Research discussions also deal with how key theoretical concepts within occupational science are understood in the Nordic contexts and how these understandings relate to development in society. In this context, occupational science can be seen to contribute important knowledge of, and perspectives on, the value of meaningful occupational engagement in citizens’ everyday lives.

Femicide in a small Nordic welfare society

The purpose of this study was to examine femicide cases in Iceland, which is a small Nordic welfare society. Cases of femicide were explored during a 30-year time period from 1986-2015. Femicide was defined as the murder of a woman by a partner, former partner or related to passion. Verdicts and news of the incidents were analysed. Verdicts were found using the search machine Fons Juries, run by a private legal company, which collected all verdicts from the Supreme Court from 1920, and all verdicts from the district courts existing in electric form. News that included murders of women was collected from websites of the main newspapers in Iceland. Eleven women were killed during this time period according to the definition used in this study. Most of the incidents happened in the home of the perpetrator, victim or both. Nearly all of them took place during the night or in the evening during weekends, with more incidents occurring during cold and dark months than brighter and warmer months. All of them took place in the capital city or in that area. Strangulation was the most common murder method, followed by stabbing the woman with a knife. Only one woman was shot, and that perpetrator was the only one who killed himself afterward. The mean age of the perpetrators was 29. Most of them had a low level of education or their education was unknown, and had a low paying job. Two-thirds of them were under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs when the incident happened and the majority had a psychiatric problem, mainly personality disorders or symptoms of such disorders, such as antisocial personality disorder. Even though it is rare, femicide incidents do exist in a small Nordic welfare society such as Iceland, despite an extensive welfare policy and gender equality.

Einkarekstur eða ríkisrekstur í heilsugæslu: Samanburður á kostnaði og ánægju með þjónustu

Skipulag heilbrigðisþjónustu er meðal erfiðustu viðfangsefna stjórnvalda. Líkt og aðrar þjóðir sem reka félagslegt heilbrigðiskerfi standa Íslendingar frammi fyrir spurningunni um hvert eigi að vera hlutverk einkarekstrar innan heilsugæslunnar. Markmið rannsóknarinnar var tvíþætt: að bera saman einkarekstur og ríkisrekstur 17 heilsugæslustöðva á höfuðborgarsvæðinu og greina ánægjukannanir þeim tengdar. Við upphaf Íslandsbyggðar verður til lögbundin samhjálp þar sem kveðið er á um skyldur samfélagsins við þá sem þarfnast hjálpar og með lögum um heilbrigðisþjónustu árið 1973 féll íslenska heilbrigðiskerfið undir norræna velferðarsamfélagið með jöfnu aðgengi og þéttu öryggisneti. Rannsóknin sýnir að einkareknu heilsugæslustöðvarnar voru með lágan kostnað á hverja verkeiningu en þó ekki þann lægsta. Fjórar til sjö ríkisreknar stöðvar voru með lægri kostnað á hvern skráðan einstakling en þær einkareknu. Kostnaður á hverja stöðu læknis var hæstur hjá annarri einkareknu stöðinni. Þjónustukannanir sýndu að enginn munur var á ánægju með gæði þjónustu milli þessara tveggja ólíku rekstrarforma. Þá ályktun má draga af þessari rannsókn að ekki sé hægt að fullyrða að einkarekstur í heilsugæslu bæti meðferð opinbers fjár eða auki gæði þjónustunnar.

Wealth Elite Moralities: Wealthy Entrepreneurs’ Moral Boundaries

This article examines the moral boundary work of wealthy Finnish entrepreneurs belonging to the country’s top 0.1 per cent of earners. Through 28 semi-structured interviews, we show how these members of the wealth elite construct moral boundaries to legitimise their growing distance from other income groups in a Nordic welfare society. The super-rich entrepreneurs construct self-identities based on hard work, persistence and normality, draw moral boundaries between lazy and hard-working people and create moral distance between themselves and wage earners, the unemployed and public-sector workers. At the same time, these wealthy elite entrepreneurs challenge the moralities of Nordic welfare society. We thus posit that moral boundaries and boundary work should be explored as legitimising discourses embedded in the relations of economic and political power.

A Life without Violence? Experience of Treatment for Perpetrators of Violence in Intimate Partner Relationships in a Small Nordic Welfare Society

<p><em>In this study, the experiences of perpetrators of violence in intimate relationships in Iceland that took part in this program; “Peace at home” were explored. Also the experiences of survivors were examined, who had a spouse that took part in that treatment program. A qualitative method was used, interviews were taken with six perpetrators and six survivors. All of the participants were white Icelandic people, none of them had a different ethnic background. The interviews were transcribed and analysed. As a result of their participation in the treatment program, all the perpetrators experienced improvement in quality of life, in their relationships with their spouses and in their general well-being. The survivors experienced the time their spouse was in therapy as positive overall and that it made a difference in their own lives. In all cases the physical violence stopped. However, the emotional abuse did not cease in all cases or increased again. Thus, it seems that perpetrators might need more prolonged treatment or different emphasis in treatment, in order to work on patriarchal mentality and stress-provoking situations.</em><em></em></p>

Justice through participation: student engagement in Nordic classrooms

ABSTRACTIn this article, we approach large questions regarding justice and equality in the Nordic classrooms. A substantial body of previous research emphasises the importance of student engagement in teaching and learning. Drawing on video data from Norway, Sweden and Finland, we focus on whole-class teaching, i.e. situations in which the teacher addresses the class from the front of the classroom, to investigate justice trough participation. We have approached our topic through two concerns: student participation in classroom discourse and student engagement as providing access to content. Our findings seem to pose some serious challenges for the Nordic welfare society vision of classrooms as core societal hubs for justice and equality. While whole-class teaching is one of the primary tools available for attempting to achieve justice and equality for all, this interaction format seems to contain inherent constraints that do not support equitable student engagement. Further, the way the Nordic classrooms have responded so far to the massive digitisation in their societies seems to pose serious questions rather than provide comforting answers.

Aðgengi fullorðinna að námi á framhaldsskólastigi: Stofnana- og aðstæðubundnar hindranir á menntavegi

Markmið þessarar rannsóknar var að kanna hvaða hindranir mæta fullorðnu fólki sem hefur hug á að ljúka námi á framhaldsskólastigi. Tekin voru viðtöl við átta einstaklinga á aldrinum 25–30 ára sem stunda nám á vegum framhaldsfræðslunnar og eru í aðfaranámi. Í frásögnum þeirra vógu aðstæðu- og stofnanabundnar hindranir mun þyngra en viðhorfsbundnar hindranir. Helsta hindrun nemendanna var fjármögnun námsins þar sem unga fólkið býr við þröngan fjárhag og er með fjölskyldu á framfæri. Flókið reyndist að samþætta fjölskyldulíf og vinnu með námi og það skapaði mikið álag í lífi þess. Einnig kom fram að upplýsingar um nám og fjárstuðning í boði eru oft óljósar og viðmælendur töldu að framboð og skipulag náms kæmi ekki nægjanlega til móts við þarfir þeirra fyrir stuðning og sveigjanleika. Þátttakendur sýndu frumkvæði og þrautseigju við að yfirstíga margvíslegar hindranir sem þeir mættu á menntaveginum. Hvatinn að rannsókninni er ekki síst sá að stjórnvöld hafa sett markmið um hærra menntunarstig þjóðarinnar en afar hægt gengur að ná þeim markmiðum. Rannsóknin getur því nýst stjórnvöldum við stefnumótun og menntastofnunum og aðilum fullorðinsfræðslu við að fækka stofnana- og aðstæðubundnum hindrunum á vegi fullorðinna námsmanna.